warriorsfandomcom-20200223-history
The Raging Storm/Chapter 4
Chapter description :Alderheart dreams he is padding through an unfamiliar forest. His pelt prickles uneasily as he glances over his shoulder, sensing danger behind him, and quickens his pace. A faint growl behind him lifts into a roar, and his heart lurches and he breaks into a run. Shadows pursue Alderheart, and fear surges in his chest as he smells smoke. Looking over his shoulder, he sees fire pierce through the smoke. He flees, climbing a steep rocky cliff. Flames tear at the trees below, and Alderheart waits for the smoke to clear. A breeze stirs the thinning smoke into mist, and as it dissolves, instead of a charred forest, Alderheart sees a vibrant meadow. The tang of freshness baths him, so strong that he wakes up, finding Leafpool and Jayfeather’s nests empty. Anxiety jabs his belly as he wonders if something is wrong. :He calls to Jayfeather, then sees the medicine cat crouching beside Puddleshine’s nest, with Leafpool beside him, who is bent over the ShadowClan cat. Panic sparks through Alderheart and he scrambles out of his nest, asking if Puddleshine is okay. Jayfeather informs him the ShadowClan medicine cat is having a seizure. Leafpool presses Puddleshine into his nest while his body violently spasms and thrashes. Jayfeather orders Alderheart to hold his hind legs still, and Alderheart thrusts his paws into Puddleshine’s nest, struggling to hold him still while Jayfeather grasps his head. :Alderheart prays to StarClan he won’t die, and thinks back to the day before, when he had nursed Puddleshine through the afternoon and put sorrel on his wounds. Puddleshine’s seizure slowly subsides, and as his legs fall limp beneath Alderheart’s paws, Alderheart asks if he's alive. Jayfeather announces he’s still breathing, and gently lays the toms head on the side of his nest. Leafpool asks if they should tell Tigerstar, and Alderheart says no, they can still cure him, but Jayfeather murmurs Tigerstar should be warned. Alderheart meows not yet, and tells them to give him feverfew and thyme, while he goes out to look at the silverthorn that had injured Puddleshine, thinking it must have something to do with his illness. As he walks, he wonders if his dream of the fire is a sign from StarClan, related to Puddleshine, but shrugs it off, believing it to just be a normal dream. :Once he reaches the silverthorn, he pads in circles, searching for anything out of the ordinary. As he looks, he sees a deathberry bush shiver and a rabbit hops out from beneath it. To Alderheart’s surprise, it’s the wounded rabbit he saw the day prior, looking much healthier now. Hope flares in his chest, and he remembers seeing the rabbit nibbling on deathberries. :He pads up to the bush, and finds deathberry seeds piled in a small heap beneath it where the rabbit had made a makeshift nest. Alderheart’s thoughts quicken and he wonders if the berries healed the rabbit, that perhaps if the seeds were removed, the flesh of the berry would be safe to eat. His dream appears in his mind again, thinking how the fire hadn’t killed the forest, but instead a meadow had blossomed in its wake. He stiffens with excitement, forming the idea that deathberries will cure Puddleshine. Alderheart collects some of the berries, wrapping them in a dock leaf, then carries the bundle back to camp. He wonders how he will persuade Jayfeather and Leafpool that it will work. He knows he must, thinking the berries could be Puddleshine’s only hope. Characters Major *Puddleshine }} Minor *Leafpool *Squirrelflight *Graystripe *Molewhisker *Cherryfall }} Mentioned }} Notes and references Category:The Raging Storm Category:A Vision of Shadows arc Category:Chapter subpages